Fault detection and identification using a novel process decomposition algorithm for distributed process monitoring

Recent progress in fault detection and identification increasingly relies on sophisticated techniques for fault detection, applied through either centralized or distributed approaches. Instead of increasing the sophistication of the fault detection method, this work introduces a novel algorithm for determining process blocks of interacting measurements and applies principal component analysis (PCA) at the block level to identify fault occurrences. Additionally, we define a novel contribution map that scales the magnitudes of disparate faults to facilitate the visual identification of abnormal values of measured variables and analysis of fault propagation. Bayesian aggregate fault index and block fault indices vs. time pinpoint origins of the fault. The proposed method yields fault detection rates on par with most sophisticated centralized or distributed methods on the Tennessee Eastman Process (TEP) benchmark. Since the decomposition algorithm relies on the process flowsheet and control loop structures, practicing control engineers can implement the proposed method in a straightforward manner. • Novel process decomposition algorithm based on process flow diagrams and control loop structures. • Monitoring blocks created without using correlation data. • Improved block definitions through community merging based on measurement allocation. • Fault detection rates comparable to complex centralized and distributed monitoring methods. • Simple fault detection method designed for practicing engineers.